In Istanbul on 21 June, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier issued the following statement concerning the peace plan and ceasefire announced yesterday by Ukrainian President Poroshenko:

I welcome the fact that yesterday President Poroshenko announced his peace plan and put into effect a ceasefire. This offers a chance to defuse the situation in eastern Ukraine and continue the process of national dialogue.

We expect all actors to support this peace plan, among them Moscow, which has to secure its border with Ukraine and use its influence with the separatists in eastern Ukraine in order to put an end to the fighting in Donbas and open the chance for negotiations and a political solution.

There is still a long way to go in order to achieve genuine stabilisation but the first step can be taken now.